


The Tragedy Involving Icarus vs Tony Stark

by Svn_f1ower



Category: Iron Man (Movies)
Genre: Essay, I Don't Even Know, I don't know why I'm posting this, Other, This Is Not Going To Go The Way You Think
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-31
Updated: 2019-03-31
Packaged: 2019-12-30 02:06:26
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,883
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18305984
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Svn_f1ower/pseuds/Svn_f1ower
Summary: This is a boring essay on the similarities between the myth of Icarus and Tony Stark.





	The Tragedy Involving Icarus vs Tony Stark

**Author's Note:**

> W H A T A M I D O I N G?

The Tragedy Involving Icarus vs Tony Stark

 

In classical society, the Greeks would create myths in order to explain things they couldn’t understand, also know as charter myths. Not only have these ancient myths stayed relevant throughout post-classical society, but they have continued to heavily influence modern films, character arcs, and the conceptual makeup of a tragedy suited to modern audiences. Using the myth of Icarus and Daedalus in comparison to arguably one of the most well-known examples of a modern tragedy, Tony Stark, the links between the classical and post-classical world will be highlighted. One of the first plot points of a classic tragedy, is when the protagonist is tempted into irrational behaviour . This results in hamartia, a fatal flaw which eventually leads to their downfall. Through the comparative discussion of Icarus and Tony Stark, the first step of their character arcs will be analysed in order to demonstrate a link between the ancient Greek myth, and modern-day media portrayal of heroes. Using hamartia, hubris, peripeteia and anagnorisis/catharsis, the main difference between Icarus and Tony Stark’s stories will be highlighted and developed.

 

One of the primary examples of an ancient historian who utilises hamartia in his tragedies is Aristotle. The philosopher intends the fatal flaw to be an essential outcome of the requirement for the protagonist to have an aspect which keeps them from being an entirely estimable character. Subsequently, hamartia becomes the factor which determines the limits of the protagonist’s perfection, therefore keeping them as a relatable and very human figure for the audience to sympathise with. Hamartia is a vital aspect of any protagonist, as without it, their downfall would never transpire. Aristotle highlighted the key difference between two forms of his body of work, the Poetics. ‘Comedy aims at representing men as worse, Tragedy as better than in actual life .’ This demonstrates that unlike a comedy, a tragedy paints the protagonist to be almost flawless, aside from that single fatal flaw which eventually and inevitably causes their downfall.

 

Prior to a character’s downfall, comes the storyline’s peripeteia, which is described as the moment of reversal, in which the protagonists fortune switches from good to bad. For Icarus, this occurred as the wax of his wings began to melt, and only moments later he had his literal downfall into the ocean where he perished . Tony Stark’s peripeteia took place when he awoke as a hostage, only to find that his own weapons of war were being used to slaughter innocent lives . In Icarus’ case, his hamartia is the blatant disregard for his father’s warning . The folly of youth is what resulted in his eventual downfall. ‘Daedalus constructed wings for himself and his son, and enjoined his son, when he took to flight, neither to fly high, lest the glue should melt in the sun and the wings should drop off … But the infatuated Icarus, disregarding his father's injunctions, soared ever higher, till, the glue melting, he fell into the sea called after him Icarian, and perished.’ It is evident that Icarus was not swayed by his father’s warning, and consequently, was led to his downfall. If he had listened to his father’s warning, he never would have fallen to his death, therefore demonstrating that the crucial aspect of his hamartia was how much he listened to Daedalus’ cautioning. Some may argue that it was not the folly of youth which was Icarus’ failing flaw, but his hubris. The reasoning for this claim surrounds the fact that Icarus defied his rights as a human when he flew, because the gods had never intended for mortals to have the ability to do so. The gods saw a mortal defying the limitations of their humanity as an act of hubris, which is defined as ‘excessive pride, violating the bounds set for humans.’ This was always punished as the Greeks saw this as ‘making yourself unto a god.’ The post-classical metaphor, used to describe a situation in which someone is aiming so high that they are likely to fail because of it, was extracted from the myth of Icarus and Daedalus, proving that the tale is clearly still relevant even in a modern-day setting, such as recent film and television characters. 

 

As opposed to Icarus, Tony Stark had always been known as a powerful man who was ailed by his hubris and yet he was forced to change himself for the better or perish because of it, whereas Icarus never got this privilege. When Stark was taken hostage by terrorists, he experienced his anagnorisis, which in Tony Stark’s case was the realisation of his mistakes as a weapon tech designer. The recognition of this harsh reality is demonstrated by his statement, ‘I saw young Americans killed by the very weapons I created to defend them and protect them. And I saw that I had become part of a system that is comfortable with zero accountability .’ This key moment of recognition is a notable difference in the two characters arcs, Icarus never reached his point of anagnorisis, as his downfall resulted in death. Tony Stark’s anagnorisis is what allowed his character arc to continue . His story develops as his hubris slowly becomes less relevant to his personality. He is no longer painted to be a selfish billionaire, but instead as a sacrificial hero, meaning his arc should have reached the final stage in which the protagonist changes their ways for the better. The reality is, that if Tony Stark had perished as a result of his flaws, much like how Icarus had, his character would never have adapted to suit that of a stereotypical hero. More precisely, if his hamartia had never pushed Tony Stark close to his downfall, he never would have succeeded to adjust his character’s morals.

 

The second chance which Tony Stark received, and the sudden end to Icarus’ story, is indicative of the key difference between most classical and modern tragedies. Ancient Greek culture shows that tragedies in theatre and literature almost always portrayed the death of main characters, whereas killing off the pivotal characters in modern-day stories is not as common of an occurrence. Perhaps this is because in ancient times death surrounded society, it was an everyday occurrence and most did not exceed the age of thirty-five, meaning a main character’s death is not uncommon in most Greek tragedies. Catharsis was heavily relied on in an ancient Greek tragedy, as it was the feature of viewing theatre which drove the audience to attend. The purging of pity and fear through art was most often the reason for viewing a tragedy, however in the post-classical world, most tragedies end ‘happily ever after.’ In classical narratives, catharsis is most often achieved once the protagonist has perished, leaving the audience with a sense of incompleteness, whereas recent plot lines only come to a close once the protagonist’s main conflict has been solved, resulting in fulfilment. One of the most common techniques filmmakers use to achieve catharsis in modern day is to let the protagonist hit their lowest point in order to bring them higher than before, as ‘it’s always easier to build people back up after they’ve been broken down .’ Moreover, modern-day entertainment does not often involve the death of a pivotal character unless their story arc has been completed. This is why Tony Stark’s character is much more likely to die in upcoming films, rather than in the first Iron Man film, as modern audiences often favour a clean ending that results in some kind of resolution. Tony Stark’s character’s arc has been fully developed to cement him as the typical hero. However, along with becoming a hero, comes the hero’s fatal flaw.

 

The most important question is why hamartia is embedded so deeply into ancient Greek literature. The simple answer is, hamartia is crucial because it provides and creates relatability. In order for the fall of the hero to impact the audience, they have to be able to relate and empathise with the mortal character. And what do mortals have? Flaws. Common, yet detrimental flaws which inevitably lead to their downfall. Icarus was afflicted by his folly of youth, and Tony Stark is faulted by his acrimony and narcissism. The vital aspect in making sure an audience can relate to a character is emphasising their humanity. ‘He’s a fascinating character, it’s a character we love because he’s imminently flawed and we like characters that express their humanity and I think Tony Stark does that as well as any of the characters. He started off as a narcissistic alcoholic and grew into a hero which I think makes him eminently relatable.’ The humanity reminds audiences that nobody is perfect, everyone has flaws and if you try to ‘fly too close to the sun,’ those flaws will become fatal. Hamartia impacted both Icarus and Tony Stark in different ways, it brought Icarus to his death, yet gave Tony Stark enough of a moment of realisation that he was able to change his character and as a result, complete his character arc.

 

The classical world and modern-day society are both strongly linked through the utilisation of common structures and concepts used in ancient Greek tragedies. Hamartia was both used in classical tragedies and modern-day tragedies in order to create relatability in the character through the flaws which make them human. Anagnorisis, the moment of realisation, is often negated in ancient tragedies, as the protagonist often perishes before their character can be rebuilt. Whereas it is normally used in post-classical tragedies to inspire the protagonist into changing themselves for the better. Catharsis in ancient tragedies was achieved through the sense of unfulfillment, as most characters die, spurring the audience to indulge their emotions. Modern-day catharsis is achieved when the protagonist rises from the downfall caused by their hamartia and alters themselves in order to be a better person, leaving the audience feeling fulfilled. These three main points are what binds classical tragedies from the ancient world to the post-classical tragedies which are created today, as most use the Greek concepts as a basis and general plot structure. The fatal flaw, the downfall, the rise and finally, the completion of the protagonist’s character arc.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bibliography  
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Batrinos, M. L. (2008). The length of life and eugeria in classical Greece.  
Booker, C. (2004). The Seven Basic Plots: Why We Tell Stories. London: Continuum.  
Carnes, P. J. (1997). The Betrayal Bond: Breaking Free of Exploitive Relationships. Deerfield Beach, Florida: Health Communications, Inc.  
Dotson, M. (2016, November 22). Story Structure Analysis: Iron Man (Movie). Retrieved from Six Act Structure: https://sixactstructure.com/story-structure-analysis-iron-man/  
Evans, C. (2019, March 26). Avengers Endgame | "We Lost" Featurette.  
Favreau, J. (Director). (2008). Iron Man 1 [Motion Picture].  
Graves, R. (1990). The Greek Myths Volume 1. Penguin .  
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McLevy, A. (2018, April 27). No one in Marvel's Avengers universe has a character arc that compares to Tony Stark's. Retrieved from Film/AV Club: https://film.avclub.com/no-one-in-marvels-avengers-universe-has-a-character-arc-1825543016  
Russo, A., & Russo, J. (2018, August 14). Every Hero in 'Avengers: Infinity War' Explained by the Russo Brothers | WIRED. (WIRED, Interviewer)  
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**Author's Note:**

> Congrats, you made it to the end of a really boring and tedious essay, you win my respect <3


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